Moving on from Maris

Just five years after breaking one of the game’s most iconic records – namely the 60 home runs hit by Babe Ruth in 1927 – Roger Maris sees the end of his time with the Yankees come 57 years ago today as New York trades him to the St. Louis Cardinals for well-traveled third baseman Charley Smith.

Maris is a mainstay in the Yankees’ lineup from 1960-64 before hamstring and wrist injuries limit him to 46 games in 1965.

Maris returns in 1966 to play in 119 games, but the injuries greatly diminish his power.

Maris finishes his last season as a Yankee with only 13 home runs, making a distant memory of the record 61 homers he hits in 1961 and the two American League Most Valuable Player Awards he wins in 1960 and ’61.

Over the same time that Maris plays in New York, the nomadic Smith roams the major leagues, putting in time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and New York Mets before landing in St. Louis for the 1966 season.

After the Maris trade, Smith lasts two seasons in the Bronx, batting .224 over 181 games with 10 homers and 45 runs batted in.

Maris also lasts only two seasons in St. Louis – his final two in the game – but those summers help revive his career as he hits .258 over 225 games with 14 homers and 100 RBIs.

More important, and just as he does from 1960-64 with the Yankees, Maris twice helps the Cardinals to the World Series – first beating Boston in seven games in 1967 before falling to Detroit in seven games in 1968.

Maris retires after the 1968 season and becomes a businessman running a Florida-based beer distributorship that Cardinals owner Augie Busch rewards him as a retirement gift.